


Our Flag

by technicallyGone



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: 4th of July, Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-09
Updated: 2012-09-09
Packaged: 2017-11-13 22:06:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/508206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/technicallyGone/pseuds/technicallyGone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>America sits and watches the fireworks and he thinks about what he is and what he used to be.</p>
<p>Hero.</p>
<p>Was it worth it?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Our Flag

_'America. The land of freedom and liberty. Of new beginnings. Where the constitution was by the people, for the people. The land where everyone was given a second chance, where everyone was welcomed.'_

Alfred actually laughed at the article he was reading. It was something sent in by some student to tell how they felt about the country they lived in.

"That was the idea," Alfred mumbled. "Too bad it didn't turn out that way."

The country was supposed to be like that. But, unfortunately, that wasn't exactly how it was going. Talk to anyone, and you could have a long conversation about how they hate the government and how much better it could be. No one would quit bitching about it. There was a ton of crime, and that 'we accept anyone'? Laughable. All that filled his ears were things about 'gangs' and 'those damn border hoppers'. People got beat up for being a certain color, live in a certain place, if you parents were 'blank' or 'blank', if you loved the wrong person.

There were lots of people getting killed or committing suicide because no one would accept them…child abuse, spouse abuse, genocide…the list went on and on.

'What do I know now?' Alfred thought, sitting down and holding his head in his hands.

A place of second chances? You hardly got a first.

Hero.

The words echoed in his mind as he sat on the roof of his second house in Washington DC, watching the fireworks in the sky.

He started wishing he was anywhere else. Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, Montana, Oregon. Somewhere where there was just some open air, where you would see all the stars in the sky, instead of all the artificial lights blacking them out. He wished he was back in time, before everyone found him. He wished it was just him and Matthew again, smiling and playing with the natives that lived there, that cherished the land, instead of their profits.

Alfred wished for, just once, things were simple again.

In that moment, the dying sparks of the last firework resembled one of the shooting stars he so loved to see.

After just a moment, another explosion sounded in the air, and the dying sparks disappeared and faded as the next ones appeared.

"Happy birthday," he mumbled to himself.

This wasn't America anymore. This was a place of theft, of murder, crimes, accusation and corrupt people.

America had left and died long ago, as the forests and natural reserves were used up and replaced with factories and businesses and houses. The America they knew had been killed with war and discrimination and hate.

Now, here stood a shell of that man. Now, here stood the person everyone could blame. Now, here stood someone broken, wishing and longing for what they once were.

Now, there stood the hero everyone wanted. America was gone, and the Hero stood. If only Alfred could go with the former out of existence.

Closing his eyes, he thought back to a quote he'd read. Most the times he was a bit forgetful, but this really stuck with him. It had to after all, since it was talking about his flag.

From the book "Our Flag" published in 1989 by the House of Representatives

"White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness and valor, and Blue …signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice."

"The star is a symbol of the heavens and the divine goal to which man has aspired from time immemorial; the stripe is symbolic of the rays of light emanating from the sun."

Alfred smiled. One day, he would make these words ring true. It was a hard battle, but not impossible. Besides…he was an American, right? And what were Americans if not stubborn determined?

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, this was originally on my ff.net account. But I'm taking that down, and this is the one story I though I'd actually bring over. The rest are just...well, I hope I've improved more than when I started those. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
